


Fireworks

by iwasanartist



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Fourth of July, Gen, Steve Rogers and the 21st Century, mild PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:46:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25071109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iwasanartist/pseuds/iwasanartist
Summary: As a boy, Independence Day had always been one of Steve's favorite holidays. As a man who'd led troops into battle, died for his country and woken up 70 years later to fight aliens...he still loved it, but everything was different.
Kudos: 6





	Fireworks

The 21st century sure knew how to put on a fireworks show. If there was anything Steve regretted about becoming Captain America, it was the way he had to prepare for them now. When he was a boy, he'd watch from a fire escape or a rooftop -- even Bucky's shoulders once -- and marvel at the show without a care in the world. That was before he'd seen real rockets and real bombs lighting up the sky and crashing to earth in crippling explosions that wrought havoc on men and boys who didn't have his gifts.

Time had proven that he could still own a battlefield. Maybe it was the distraction of the fight or the consequence of failure, but something about it was different from the blasts and bangs and bursts of color that were staples of American celebration.

The first one he saw since waking up -- a lone tester designed to look like a simple smiling face -- settled in his gut. By the time the smoke from the grand finale faded, his fingernails had left grooves in his palm and his jaw ached. He'd fixed his face and grabbed a beer by the time the rest of the Avengers turned back to him, wondering what he'd thought. 

"It's beautiful," he said. "Really something else." And the top of the former Stark Tower probably was the best view in the whole city that year. And the year after. And the year after that. He'd done some research. Talked to some people and learned a few things. And it was on that third year that he finally felt like he could really enjoy the show again.

He just missed the days he didn't have to prepare.


End file.
